


A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

by dragons_and_angels



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Hockey, Dreams, M/M, Remix, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-16 14:21:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10573092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragons_and_angels/pseuds/dragons_and_angels
Summary: Zhenya was sure bonds didn't work like that.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hazel_3017](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazel_3017/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Renegades](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4851986) by [hazel_3017](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazel_3017/pseuds/hazel_3017). 



> Realised I completely forgot to write an author's note! Anyway, thanks to K for helping me figure out what was missing from this fic for the first draft (as well as inspiring me to sign up for this exchange in the first place) and thanks to Hazel for giving me the chance to write this fic! It could have easily turned into a full long fic and it was an interesting world to explore! Also thanks to the mods for organising this exchange for the hockey fandom.

**Magnitogorsk**

Zhenya should have known he was in trouble when he got back to Magnitogorsk and realised he couldn't stop thinking about Sid. It wasn't that unusual, they had spent as much of the weekend together as they could and not a day went by without a phone call or an email between them, but that didn't account for the _dreams_. Some were normal dreams he had before about girls (and boys) he fancied, but the dreams of a smiling mother and father not his own, of a rink surrounded by people with English names on the back of their jerseys, of a smiling, blonde girl who was basically a female version of Sid were definitely unusual. Zhenya would wake up and feel comforted, which was the exact opposite he was supposed to feel when you had dreams like that.

The scents of people grew sharper and Zhenya found himself flinching away from some of the alphas on his hockey team, people he had played with forever. It made his cheeks burn with embarrassment as he caught the looks exchanged but everyone on the team was surprisingly tactful enough not to say anything.

Seryozha was the only one to approach him after Zhenya had spent the first week of training camp getting worse and worse. His hockey had been fine during it, which was probably the only reason he hadn't been approached sooner, better than fine even. "Zhenya," Seryozha said seriously, "what is going on with you? I thought you were on suppressants."

Zhenya felt his cheeks warm. Seryozha was older, more like a mentor figure, but he was still an alpha and Zhenya had been taught that you didn't talk about those kinds of things with alphas. If you talked about heats, there was always the chance you could stir up the alpha's interest and then it was only your fault if they wouldn't leave you alone after that. Talking about preventing heats normally received more disapproval. "I am," Zhenya replied shortly. Seryozha looked unmoved and Zhenya relented, realising he would have to give the other man something more to go on. "I've been having these dreams."

Instead of getting Seryozha to leave him alone, the comment only made him look more curious. He shifted around so he was sitting down on the bench next to Zhenya. They were alone in the gym, Zhenya having finished the workout he started in annoyance at the body which seemed to be failing him now. He was on suppressants and they were good ones, he had received them when he had started to play for the Russian national team, but he felt weird now like his body wanted to go into heat but just couldn't manage it.

"What kind of dreams?" Seryozha suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Do you need to talk to your doctor about them...?" He asked and Zhenya suddenly cottoned on to what Seryozha was suggesting. His cheeks grew warm and he wished he could just sink through the floor now. He shook his head vigorously.

"Like memories," Zhenya hastily explained. "Of... someone else's life." He knew whose life it was but it seemed strange to actually say it out loud. He didn't even know what it meant and it felt rude somehow to go on and spreading this without Sid's permission. He trusted Seryozha not to gossip about it, but he still couldn't get the words out.

Seryozha looked alarmed. "I've heard stories about things like that, but I thought they were just make-believe." He looked at Zhenya closely. "You're sure these aren't regular dreams?"

Zhenya may knew nothing that was going on right now but he was sure of that much. "Definitely not regular dreams," he replied firmly. "Do you know what they are?" Seryozha looked at him funny, as if he couldn't decide whether he was being lied to or not. Zhenya stared back, getting annoyed now at the long silence and that seemed to settle something in Seryozha, for he smiled and dipped his head.

"In the old stories my mother used to tell me," Seryozha started, "alphas and omegas worked together to keep the village safe. It wasn't like we've been told where omegas always stayed at home to look after the children and alphas did the protecting, it used to be the pair of them working together would work to keep their home and family safe. Omegas would know when they met the right alpha because they would start having dreams of the alpha's life, from the alpha's point of view. This would be the precursor to a bond."

"Bond?" Zhenya interrupted, only to fall silent at Seryozha's quelling look.

"A bond meant they would be able to share feelings together and know whether the other was nearby or far away." Seryozha's voice had taken on a lecturing quality but Zhenya was far too busy being entranced by his actual words to care. The only things he was taught about alphas and omegas was what he heard at school and most of that was technical stuff that had managed to bore Zhenya rigid the whole time. His parents were both betas; the whole family had been surprised when Zhenya had presented at the age of fourteen.

"The bond doesn't happen now?" Zhenya couldn't help himself, he had to ask.

"It does happen sometimes between compatible alphas and omegas," Seryozha explained. "Which I'm sure you would know if you paid attention in school." Zhenya felt chastened but impatient for Seryozha to get to the point. "But it's nothing like it was in the old stories. Ksenia and I have one of the strongest bonds - or had as it might be - between an alpha and omega. I can tell whether Ksenia is nearby or whether she's hurt but I can't read her emotions. If you're having dreams of an alpha's life, it could be your body telling you that you've found the one you should be bonded to."

Zhenya didn't know if he would like Sid reading his emotions. It might help with the language barrier but they had seemed to communicate fine in the weekend in Raleigh and they always had hockey in common. Zhenya's temper flared hot and he could hold onto a grudge for longer than was healthy and he didn't want that to spill over onto Sid, who seemed remarkably calm or at least gave the appearance of it.

"Are you going to tell me who it is?" Seryozha spoke after what Zhenya realised must have been a long period of silence. He was turning over what that meant, that Sid and him could have that strong bond one day, something only mentioned in stories, ignoring the fact that his sweat was starting to cool on his skin and make him shiver.

Maybe if it was Sid, the bond wouldn't be that bad. Sid and Zhenya, it fit. "I think I know," Zhenya said. He stared at the weight machine but wasn't really seeing it, instead replaying the memory of the last time he had seen Sid. "But I want to talk to them first." Seryozha accepted this thankfully and left Zhenya to his thoughts with promises he would come to Seryozha if anything happened or he felt like he needed to talk some more.

Zhenya sat back in the bench, letting his head fall gently back against the wall as he turned over everything. He needed to talk to Sid, but how could he do that when he was halfway around the world? This wasn't something you made over email or a crackly phone call that would be cut short by a parent yelling about the expense. He needed to talk to Sid in person.

His thoughts tripped and something in his body flared. It felt like his body during heat but there was none of the accompanying wetness between his asscheeks or dizziness in his head. Zhenya probed carefully at the feeling but it stayed dormant. He tested it by thinking about Sid, about seeing Sid in person with his dark curls and his eyes, his too-big grin with lips that should be illegal - yeah, that did it. The feeling was back again, ten times stronger and Zhenya sat up, half-curious and half-worried. Still no signs of heat, his suppressants were working then, but Zhenya was excited and turned on and it really, really sucked that Sid wasn't here right now.

Fucking hell. If they did bond, what were they supposed to do then?

**

Of all the things Zhenya was expecting after that, the list did not include Sidney Crosby turning up at his rink after Zhenya had finished talking with his coach about plans for the year now that it looked like the NHL lockout was a surety. Sid's scent was unique, like most people's were, but no one else's scent made Zhenya sit and notice like his did.

Sid was here, looking exhausted and happy after flying all the way here and taking a stupidly expensive pirate taxi to Zhenya's rink and Zhenya couldn't take his hands off him. His scent was washing over Zhenya in waves and everything was just perfect now Zhenya had Sid in front of him, looking smiley and happy, and with acres of smooth skin he was letting Zhenya touch as much as he wanted.

"Can I?" He asked, almost begging at the thought of kissing Sid again. Sid gives him a look as if he thought it was mad that he even needed to ask and it was barely a second after that before Zhenya was kissing him, moaning in relief at the familiar taste. Sid didn't protest in the slightest, instead pressed closer and responded with enthusiasm that made Zhenya's head spin. He had to mentally check he wasn't in heat because the feeling of focus and dizziness was so unique to heat that Zhenya couldn't imagine what else could cause it. Apparently Sid could.

Then Sid was pulling back and asking Zhenya something, something which flew right over his head until Sid had to repeat it. "Just a few days?" He asked and Zhenya replied in the affirmative. Sid could stay as long as he wanted and if Zhenya had his way, they would never be apart from again. Kissing Sid was fast becoming Zhenya's new favourite thing, beating even hockey to the spot, and it took several throat-clearings before he managed to pull himself away.

"Zhenya, this is a surprise," Seryozha said in a mild voice. Zhenya could see some of his other teammates fleeing the scene, obviously not curious enough to wait around for an explanation. Zhenya felt a mild sense of shame but it wasn't strong enough to make him let go of Sid. They hadn't seen each other in nearly a month and if what Seryozha said was true, he had a right to be upset about it.

"Sid, this is Seryozha," Zhenya said in English, before switching back to Russian. "Seryozha, this is Sid from the dreams." Seryozha's eyebrows shot up, seemingly not expecting this easy admission of what he already suspected. There no point in hiding it, Seryozha knew too much and Zhenya couldn't hide how he felt for Sid, even if he wanted to.

"Nice to meet you, Ser- Sez- " Zhenya didn't need any bond to know that Sid was embarrassed, the pink tinge of his cheeks said enough.

"Sergei, please," Seryozha said, his English much better than Zhenya's after years playing in America. "Or I'm known as Gonch to my teammates."

Sid gave an uneasy smile and tried to step back but Zhenya's grip around his waist wouldn't let him withdraw. "Zhenya," he hissed in admonition but gave no request to let go and after a moment, settled back against Zhenya.

Zhenya smiled, both fond and possessive at the same time. It was an odd mix of feelings, something Zhenya had never felt before in terms of a romantic partner. He had got jealous when he was younger about his mother having to split her attention between him and his brother but that was a child's need for attention and didn't compare at all to what Zhenya felt towards Sid. He wanted to be the focus of Sid's world, his best friend, his teammate and everything in between. The thought of Sid having to go back in a couple of days made him want to throw a tantrum. The feelings were ridiculous and unrealistic but they were there all the same.

"Seryozha, my friend and Metallurg teammate." The words didn't encompass how much Zhenya was starting to trust Seryozha, how he had trusted Seryozha with the knowledge of Sid, his alpha, even though if the coach found out, there could potentially be a lot of trouble for Zhenya. He probably wouldn't even be able to find the words in Russian, so finding the English for it wouldn't help either, but he hoped Sid understood but how he introduced the two of them.

Seryozha muttered a quick apology in English to Sid, who had a moment to look confused, before Seryozha broke into rapid Russian, obviously intending for Sid not to understand. "If he's the one you've been having dreams about Zhenya, that means he's probably your alpha," Seryozha said seriously. "But Zhenya, if you bond, you can't be on two different continents. Either he'll have to come to you or you'll have to go to him."

"I know." Zhenya had spent many nights thinking about it, re-reading Sid's emails and wondering what he would say to the fact that he and Zhenya could form a bond if they wanted to. He knew he would be the one to move, it made sense since he had been drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, but he wasn't sure his coach and general manager would see it in the same reasonable light. Already he could see the light of ambition behind their eyes as they watched him skate and while Zhenya wanted to do his town, his country, proud, he always wanted to skate against the best. He wanted to skate with the best and that meant skating with Sid.

"Your bond won't be like mine and Ksenia's," Seryozha warned and Zhenya blinked at him. This was the first he had heard about it. Seryozha sighed, like Zhenya had purposely done this to aggravate him. "I thought you would have done a little more research into this, Zhenya," Seryozha scolded him. Zhenya scowled, he didn't like feeling like an errant child, especially in front of Sid, despite the fact he couldn't understand what they were saying.

"I thought you told me everything," he replied defensively. He felt guilty at how confused Did appeared, looking between the two of them, but he wanted to explain to Sid properly, not having him make the wrong assumptions from half a conversation.

Seryozha gave him a long-suffering look and he had new sympathy for Seryozha's wife. "Zhenya, I couldn't condense centuries worth of alpha/omega history into a conversation even if I tried."

"I was too busy thinking about Sid and the bond." Zhenya regretted the defense, mostly because Seryozha had a point, no matter how annoying he was being about it, but also because hearing his name made Sid look even more curious.

"Maybe you should read something more before you talk to Sid about the bond. You can't bond until you go into heat and you can't come off your suppressants yet anyway," Seryozha said, an air of finality in his voice. Zhenya knew this, but he still resented the fact Seryozha saw the need to tell him. Zhenya's contract included the need to stay on suppressants throughout the hockey season and if he couldn't have a heat, he couldn't complete the bond.

"I need to talk to Sid." The other man was looking politely confused at the Russian going completely over his head but he was graciously allowing Zhenya and Seryozha to talk it through. Zhenya wasn't sure about how he was going to bring it up or how he was going to explain Sid's presence to his parents but if he was going to do it, he had to do it soon. The countdown was already ticking on Sid's days here and Zhenya wanted to show him everything. Wanted Sid to be as much a part of his life here in Magnitogorsk as he had been in Raleigh.

"Fine, Zhenya, I'll leave you be." Seryozha sounded wryly amused but at least that was better than offense before he switched back to English. "We'll have to meet up sometime after Zhenya wants to share again," Seryozha said to Sid who turned a bright red but looked pleased at the same time. Zhenya had to kiss him again at this and when he looked up again, Seryozha was gone.

"What was that all about?" Sid asked quietly. He looked up at Zhenya trustingly and Zhenya knew that even if he could lie to that face, he wouldn't be able to fool Sid for a moment.

He glanced around the car park. "Not here." Something flickered over Sid's face and Zhenya managed a smile. "Not bad, just need private." Zhenya had written down what he wanted to say, once in Russian and then painstakingly translated into English, but had never worked out the courage to send the letter.

For the rest of the day, Zhenya managed to thoroughly distract the both of them by showing Sid around his home town. Magnitogorsk wasn't a pretty town, or even a great tourist place, but it was home and he wanted to show Sid the corner store where he and Denis used to waste any pocket money they had on sweets, the rink where he first learned to skate, the apartment building they used to live in before Zhenya and Denis got too big to fit in the two-bedroom place and even the steel factory where his father worked.

"This was a good day, thank you, Zhenya," Sid said as he looked around Zhenya's room. It was different to how it had been when Zhenya was a child, he had used whatever money he had earned from hockey to help his parents buy a bigger place, though it still wasn't half as nice as they deserved. His posters were on the wall and when he looked around, he could see his mother had stacked his old school textbooks on the shelves by the window. Too small skates poked out from under the bed and his wardrobe was bursting with clothes as he grew too fast to keep up with getting rid of ones that were too small.

To see Sid in this environment, see him look with interest at the hockey sticks leaning against the bookshelf, made Zhenya's throat close up. He yearned to be closer and, for the first time since Seryozha had approached him, Zhenya truly wanted the bond. It wasn't just the lukewarm relief of if he had to have a bond, at least it was Sid, or a way to make sure Sid would never forget him, but it was actual desire to be that close to Sid. To know how he felt as his eyes took on that faraway look or to be able to know where he was even when he was halfway around the world.

"What's this?" Sid said as he reached to pick up a letter on Zhenya's desk. A flash of realisation hit Zhenya just then when he saw the English words, Sid's name at the top. He instinctively went out to prevent Sid from reading further but froze. Maybe it would work out for the better if Sid could read the explanation before he and Zhenya talked about it.

"What we need to talk about." He fidgeted as he watched Sid's eyes skim over the paper, widening as the moment dragged on. He struggled to find the English words to talk about this, to make Sid understand that he wasn't obligated to do anything with Zhenya, but if he did want to, if he wanted the bond as Zhenya did, then he was here.

Sid's expression didn't say much, it was perfectly controlled. His scent was heightened but it was hard to tell the exact emotion behind it and all it did was force Zhenya to have to ignore his own body's response. He was really started to hate the suppressants.

Sid swallowed and put the letter down, carefully, in the exact same spot that he had found it. "You've been having dreams of my life."

Zhenya leaned closer, knowing he should let Sid absorb this without Zhenya touching him but unable to help himself as he tried to get closer. "Talk to Seryozha and found out..." He gestured to the paper on the desk. "Didn't know to tell you. Want you here." His tongue was stumbling more and more over the English words, ones he had only forced himself to learn in the past month after meeting Sid, and he found himself getting frustrated.

"Zhenya." Sid looked alarmed and in the next second, the two of them were pressed together and Zhenya felt like he could breathe again. "I'm listening," Sid said into Zhenya's shoulder. Other words came out but they were muffled and indistinct. Zhenya didn't want to say he couldn't hear, because then Sid would move, but he knew this conversation was important. He pulled back so he could look Sid in the eye, but couldn't find it in himself to let him go.

"Sid, weekend was best." Zhenya tried to put as much sincerity in the words as he possibly could and it came out sounding almost awed. Sid flushed pink and licked his lips, possibly due to nerves, but all it did was make Zhenya lose his train of thought. He forced himself back on track and looked into Sid's eyes instead. "Glad to talk to you, pleased find out bond to you." It wasn't exactly what he wanted to say, in Russian it was far more eloquent but he saw Sid's eyes light up with understanding all the same.

"What does the bond mean?" Sid asked. "Does it mean we have to be together?" Contrary to what Zhenya believed, Sid actually looked pleased at the thought. "Do you think we would be able to play on the Penguins together?"

"Don't need me to get Sid as Penguin," Zhenya replied, feeling a wave of affection. Playing hockey with Sid would be the best possible outcome and he was willing to fight for it. "Seryozha says will know when near and feelings."

Sid's face scrunched up. "Well, it is you so that's okay I guess."

Zhenya resisted the urge to snort. "Okay?" He tried for an offended tone but ruined it by smiling too wide.

"You know what I mean." Sid shoved him, rolling his eyes, but settled against Zhenya again. "I wouldn't have thought I would be okay with someone knowing what I was feeling, but I don't think I would mind too much if it was you." A beat and then he added, "it'll be useful for hockey."

"Yes," Zhenya replied simply.

"Can you imagine playing together?" Sid rolled himself up so he was kneeling on the bed in front of a seated Zhenya, looking down at him with an excited look in his eye. "Being on the same team, playing hockey, and being able to see each other everyday."

It was an intoxicating picture and even more so with a bright-eyed Sid leaning against him. Zhenya settled his hands on the flare of Sid's hips, just edging the boundaries of propriety, and watched as Sid's eyes darkened noticeably. "To be able to see you everyday would be worth whatever the team do to me for leaving," Zhenya said softly, in Russian because he didn't know how to say it in English.

"I want to bond with you," Sid said softly and Zhenya felt his heart thud against his chest. He didn't think that Sid realised how tempting he was, his scent wafting over Zhenya promising love and belonging, but he didn't know. He didn't understand.

"Can't bond until heat," Zhenya said, forcing his overheated brain to work in English. Sid had to understand.

"I know," Sid answered calmly. "And you're on suppressants for the hockey season, you mentioned this. So we can't bond until next summer at the earliest, but that doesn't mean I can't be with you." Zhenya made sure his door was shut and locked in answer. He could feel his heat want to rise up, his body almost preparing for it with his alpha right here, but the suppressants blocked it in a way that's wasn't completely comfortable.

Zhenya pushed the feeling to the back of his mind and concentrated on Sid, spread over the same bedsheets Zhenya had used as a teenager, when he jerking off over pretty boys and girls. He hadn't had a type, not then, but now all he wanted was Sid.

"Come on, Zhenya." Sid gestured him closer. They were the wrong way round, the alpha was supposed to be on top, but right now Zhenya couldn't find it in him to care one way or the other and fastened his lips to the base of Sid's neck. The scent was strong here and Zhenya was torn between licking at it to get the taste on his tongue or taking in huge breaths to fill his lungs with Sid.

"Zhenya, don't tease," Sid said, arching his back enough to press himself against Zhenya. It had its desired purpose, Zhenya gave Sid's skin a tantalising lick before reaching up to draw him into a deep, involved kiss. Their scents mingled together and Zhenya found himself getting dizzy as he tried to focus on one thing he wanted to do and failing. Sid fixed it, because that's what he did, and soon enough they were rubbing against each other, clothes askew as they had been pushed up and pulled aside rather than taken off.

"Sid," Zhenya groaned into the air. He watched in delight as Sid's pupils dilated even further and his pants started to match Zhenya's. Removing their trousers was too much work so Zhenya simply unbuttoned them both and shoved them down enough. Lube was under his pillow (the half-formed memory dreams hadn't been the only Sid dreams he had had) and a second later, he had both their dicks in his hand.

It was messy and hot and Zhenya couldn't wait until they did this for real, when he would be able to bond with Sid and feel him in the back of his head, present with him in all things. The thought of how good the sex would be when they were bonded, when they could read each other was enough to send Zhenya spiralling into orgasm, stars flickering behind closed lids.

When he opened his eyes, Sid was staring up at him. His expression was more open than Zhenya had ever seen and he realised he didn't need a bond to read how Sid felt about him. It was all there. "With me, Sid," he urged, letting go of his own dick to focus on Sid's, and making sure to keep his gaze on his face. He snuck a few glances down at Sid's dick, for that was never a sight he would willingly miss out on, but he was looking at Sid's face as his expression flickered, creasing into a look of unabashed ecstasy.

Fucking hell, Zhenya wished he had a photographic memory so he could imprint the image onto his brain so he never forgot any of it. But even with his frustratingly normal memory, he knew that he could never erase Sid's face at that moment.

"Love you, Sid." He pulled a panting Sid into him and tucked his head into the crook of Sid's shoulder. A smaller, more submissive part of him was happy that he had pleased his alpha, but it was being drowned out by the larger part of him that said he had pleased Sid and that was far more important.

"Love you too, Zhenya," Sid muttered after coming down from his orgasm. "I can't wait to be bonded to you."

Zhenya pulled him closer and wondered if it was possibly to love someone as much as he loved Sid. He knew they had something special when they had met at the draft and nothing that had happened since had done anything to change that view. He knew people would disapprove, would say he and Sid were too young, but Sid and him were going to be together. That much he was certain of.

**

The next morning, Zhenya woke up to find his bed empty. The sheets were warm and normally he would go back to sleep but something in Zhenya niggled at him. Sid was missing, his alpha was missing, and although he knew that Sid hadn't gone far, it didn't quiet the part of him that said he had been abandoned. He rolled his eyes at himself but got up to find Sid anyway. No way could he get back to sleep like this.

The shower wasn't running but he followed the smell of breakfast baking to find Sid cornered in the kitchen by his mother. Sid looked petrified, holding a mug of coffee like his life depended on it, as Zhenya's mother chatted to him in mostly Russian, with phrases in broken English.

She noticed him first. "Zhenya, why didn't you tell me your alpha had come to visit you?" Sid's head jerked up and Zhenya wished he could have recorded the look of relief that crossed his face just so he could pull it out to show Sid later.

"How do you know he's my alpha, Mama?" Zhenya asked. He inched his way closer to the pot his mother was stirring, hoping to steal some kasha when she wasn't looking. She swatted him away without any hesitation.

"Zhenya, I may be a beta, but I can tell an alpha when I see one. And he smells of you." She started to serve up the porridge, handing the first and most generous bowl to Sid who took it with a polite smile.

"Mama says you smell of me," Zhenya said to Sid in English, pleased to hear that he had a claim over Sid. Everything he had heard, mostly from condescending alphas he knew, said that omegas smelt of alphas after claiming and it was only after bonding that an alpha gained some of the omega's scent.

Sid went red. "Oh my God, she can smell it? Can she smell that we had - " He cut himself off when he glanced at Zhenya's mama and took a big mouthful of kasha to make up for it.

Zhenya went red as well as he realised what Sid was about to say and hurried to change the subject, turning to his amused looking mother. "Mama, did you know something about alphas and omegas and how they used to bond? Like old stories?"

His mother shrugged. "My mother was an alpha and used to tell my brother stories when he was younger. When he died, she didn't see the point of telling me when I was a beta."

"Do you remember what those stories were about?" Zhenya asked. "Seryozha mentioned it today," he added when his mother shot him a questioning look.

"Nothing much, just that the role of omegas was different back then than it is today." She ate some more of her porridge and Zhenya exchanged a glance with Sid, though the latter had no idea what was going on. "These stories," his mother continued slowly, "were the reason I accepted you being an omega so easily. All the time we heard that omegas were weak and foolish, need to be guided. But then I would remember my mama's stories, about how the omega would go into heat and fight off alphas that came near them if they weren't the right alpha. I knew that omegas could be fierce and powerful and it was why you turned out to be an omega."

Zhenya stared. "Mama..."

Her spoon dropped into her bowl with a clatter. "Oh, excuse me, I've got something in my eye." She took her bowl over to the sink and started washing up, far more noisily than was needed.

"Zhenya, what's going on?" Sid asked quietly and he could only stare at Sid, unable to even verbalise what had happened in his head, let along out loud.

"Mama knows stories like Seryozha." It wasn't nearly enough of an explanation, Zhenya was still turning over omegas fighting off alphas in heat. He had always been told that omegas in heat were sluts, ready to open their legs for the first alpha they saw. Did that mean he wouldn't want anyone else his next heat apart from Sid?

Sid blinked but chose to finish the rest of his breakfast rather than question it. He helped Zhenya's mother wash up, despite her protests, before sitting next to Zhenya. His mother had to leave for work and Zhenya made another cup of coffee for the both of them.

He put the mug in front of Sid, only for him to stare at it more than drink it. "Zhenya, I really wish I knew Russian. I feel like I'm only getting half the story." It wasn't said in an angry tone, but the stubborn set of Sid's jaw made it more than obvious that this could turn into a fight really easily.

"Don't know how to tell you," Zhenya managed to say. "Confusing, stories of alphas and omegas but nothing." He gestured, trying to get across that Seryozha's little snippets and his mother's surprising revelations didn't really add up together for a concrete explanation. And Seryozha telling him to 'research' just made things worse.

Sid digested this for a minute. "Does hearing the full story mean we're not going to bond?"

"Course not." Zhenya waved a hand and tried not to see how relieved Sid look at this. "You come to Russia for me, Sid." Zhenya knew he would have to go to America, to be surrounded by people talking English and living in a completely different culture at the same time as trying to make it in the NHL, but to have Sid by his side, a Sid who would travel halfway across the world for Zhenya despite being so young and unable to speak a word of Russian, would make the whole thing easier. "Just interested to hear about omega fight off wrong alphas."

He saw Sid's interest perk up at that. "What?"

"Mama say stories about omega in heat fight off wrong alpha for bond." It didn't happen nowadays but Seryozha said that full bonds weren't common nowadays anyway. But Zhenya had had the dreams and Sid had come to Russia - that couldn't be meaningless.

"I think I would like to hear more about these stories," Sid said. "But it's not going to stop us from bonding, no matter what we hear." Zhenya nodded. He couldn't think of who else to ask, Seryozha and his mother were the people he trusted the most who might know.

"Find out later, spend time with Sid now." He couldn't forget that Sid hadn't called his parents yet and as soon as he did, their time would end as soon as his parents pushed him to buy a ticket back to Canada. He knew that Sid had been having trouble with all the media attention, he had said as much in his emails, and he wanted him to have a few relaxing days, rather than worrying about bond stories or the media or anything like that.

"I suppose so," Sid conceded with a grin and he pressed himself up against Zhenya as a teasing reminder of last night.

"Going to be best at bond," Zhenya muttered before kissing Sid. He wouldn't settle for less than the best and he knew Sid wouldn't either. They were going to be good together, he just knew it.  
  
  


**Pittsburgh**

"Did you ever do the research I told you to do?" Seryozha asked quietly. He had pulled Zhenya off into a corner of the private room the team had rented for Flower's birthday. Zhenya's heat was rising but it wasn't strong enough yet, despite Sid's heated looks, and all he wanted to do was spend time around the team. The Penguins were far more relaxed about his heats than Metallurg had been and didn't require Zhenya to remain on suppressants during the season, especially now he was bonded.

"Slipped my mind." Truth be told, Zhenya had done some reading but he hadn't found what he wanted. His mother hadn't been able to give anything more either. The stories meant nothing to his bond with Sid and Zhenya would just have to be grateful to what he had.

Seryozha gave him a look. He wasn't fooled. "I talked to my grandmother and she had some interesting stories. I may write a book with them someday."

Now he had Zhenya's full attention. "I'm listening," he said, turning to face Seryozha full on. He caught sight of Sid looking at them out of the corner of his eye and felt a prod of curiosity inside his head. He firmly pushed him out of his head but gave him a mental pat. He would tell Sid everything later.

"She said that her great-grandmother was an omega. She was someone highly respected in her village and when an alpha from another village came in and tried to make her his, she put him down and she put him down hard. She had been having dreams of her alpha and she knew just from talking with him that he wasn't the right alpha. But he didn't leave, sure she would give him. He could smell she was near heat, so he waited and waited until her scent rose and her heat began."

Zhenya was too entranced by the story to feel the reflexive flush of embarrassment at Seryozha talking about his heats. "What did she do?"

"The alpha broke into her house and approached her, expecting her to turn over and present herself to him. She smelled him and knew it wasn't her alpha that was in the house with her and she went into a rage, badly injuring him and throwing him out the house. After her heat passed, she went to visit the alpha and told him to leave as soon as he could because she had met her alpha that day and he was no match for her."

Zhenya found himself grinning wildly and Seryozha smiled at him. Sid detached himself from a drunken Flower to make his way over, his curiousity too much for him by now. "What's going on?" He gave a smile, happy because Zhenya was but confused over the reason why.

"Seryozha has a story to tell." Zhenya pulled Sid closer, his arm over Sid's shoulders, his scent filling Zhenya's nostrils in way that was arousing and comforting.

"It's not the full story, of course." Seryozha was smiling too. "I wasn't kidding about writing that book."

Zhenya pressed his nose into Sid's hair and breathed in deep. His heat rose sharply and he knew it wouldn't be long before he would have to get out of here before he pressed Sid against the nearest wall. He could definitely understand Seryozha's relative's anger. If anyone tried to pretend to be his alpha right now, he had a feeling he would throw them through the door. Sid belonged to him and he belonged to Sid. They fit together.


End file.
